I honestly don’t do enough running for that. I’m in the gym 3xs/week doing my squats and lunges. We’ll see what happens now as I increase my run mileage…kj
Yes, if I don’t get enough calories, I lose weight - some fat, but I don’t have much of that to spare, so it taps into my muscles.
To whoever commented that swimming usually makes them ravenous - in swimming your body temp doesn’t change much, unlike running where a higher temperature is associated with a decrease in appetite. Or so I’ve read.
<< Well then…arn’t you just the GREATEST thing that lived!! Hope someone pisses in your cornflakes, then you might know what it’s like. >>
Well if you’d like to piss in my cereal, I’d suggest you stick to the Grape Nuts, Total Raisin Bran, and Cocoa Krispies. My wife eats the cornflakes and would be pretty upset if someone pissed in them.
All poorly taken humor aside, for those that lose an appetite after running, I’d suggest a carb heavy snack right when you get in the door. For all of protein’s benefits in recovery, it does seem to take away the appetite of some people I train with. It seems that once the carbs get going (and I’m talking sugary carbs, none of that whole grain crap!) appetites get going. Of course, hydration is a big part of it.
If you ever find the cause, let me know. I could really do with some loss of appetite! Seriously.
do you find that your muscles degenerate??
You’re not that lean, right, so I don’t think that’s an issue.
not sure what you’re getting at, but to answer your question, i’m not going to vanish like a fart in the wind, no, but in the past i lost alot of muscle and strength and it was really hard to get strong again. and for women in particular, it is difficult to maintain muscle tissue.
besides, i was asking kerri that question in her experience…and i know from my own experience, when i train and run marathons, and have no desire to eat, my arms turn into little bird arms that can barely curl 5 pounds. and that’s not exactly what i’m going for, hence asking others insights and advice.
I am so jealous and WISH I had this problem. I eat a lot, especially when I’m training for a marathon like I am presently. I have, however, lost my appetite when I’ve been overtraining and not getting enough sleep. How many hours/miles are you doing per day? How are you sleeping?
Kitty, I have the same problem with you with muscle tone. I definitely lose it in my arms and they almost always look flabby when I’m towards the end of a training cycle. I weigh 125 pounds at 5’9 , but my arms still look icky to me.
Not trying to get at anything. The picture of you posted a while back looked like you weren’t very lean and if that were the case you would burn through your fat reserves before you start eating away at your muscles.
do you find that your muscles degenerate??
You’re not that lean, right, so I don’t think that’s an issue.
You’re an idiot, and to top it off, an IGNORANT idiot.
i could loose 15 pounds, but even so, when a person gets running 15+ miles, and doesn’t eat alot because they have no appetite–muscle degeneration happens. it happened to me in the past, and can leave a powerless body, and less muscle tissue. i think higher protein in the infinit will help with this, as well as a good recovery drink as the others have suggested.
when I ran marathons before, i didn’t continue to weight train, so I’m sure that had something to do with it as well. seriously, after training for just 1 marathon i lost considerable strength. after training for/running 3 marathons i found myself working one on one with a personal trainer, struggling to do 3 sets of 10 with a 5 pound dumb bell. it took me one whole winter to curl 3 sets of 10 with more than 10 pounds…not to mention the soreness!! and also, my butt was flat. it took me over a year to get the curve back in my butt!!
so, i’m not asking that question just for today, but for tomorrow as well. (in other words, once I do drop fat reserves)
***disclaimer: I never claimed to be lean. i’ve said i’m a bigger woman, even called myself big mama once, and my boobs are nearly a size D. i joked with trigoneroadie the other day that when i was smaller i was just about flat chested. obviously, my boobs are bigger now for a reason (and it ain’t implants). also, I openly said that i wore size 8 pants, in which another poster said was a fat size. that’s ok, i’m not offended. so, right now, yes, i’m bigger than what i want to be, but i’m not miserable. it will come off, and already is. i just don’t want to end up with baby bird arms like i did before. 
do you find that your muscles degenerate??
You’re not that lean, right, so I don’t think that’s an issue.
You’re an idiot, and to top it off, an IGNORANT idiot.
The mouse that roared. I don’t claim to be an expert but get off your high horse, you’re just a fucking engineer who dabbles in triathlon. And don’t give me any crap about your certifications, that’s a joke. Keep dreaming about Desiree you ignorant idiot.
omg… I feel shattered by your comments… please stop…
kittycat,
I am certainly not a small guy, and never have been. In fact, I have been heavy most of my life. Now in the last 10 years I have really fought hard to watch what I eat and exercise and am down to 185 from roughly 250. The funny thing is though when I look in the mirror I still see a “fat guy.” It is sort of weird, I suppose. (Maybe this should be in the “dirty secrets” thread).
In 2002 I trained for a marathon and Ironman Wisconsin. I used a book called Nutrition for the Serious Athlete by Dan Bernardot to guide me on my food choices to make sure that I was getting enough energy. What I found was that on my high mileage weeks, I had trouble eating as much food as I was supposed to. What I mean is that I would try to eat foods with a specific calorie (and carb/prot/fat combo) in five or six meals throughout the day. But by the end of the day I was so “stuffed” that I dreaded eating the last meal or two. I did lose some weight, but nothing significant so I guess my body was telling me that I had eaten enough.
I’m not sure if this is the same phenomenon you speak of. But it does sound troubling to me when you say that you think you are burning muscle. It seems to me that I have heard that when people burn fat that they really “lose” it all over their bodies at pretty similar rates. It is just that places like the face, shoulders, boobs (for women) tend to show it faster since they 1.) have less fat stores there and 2.) are more apparent. The stomach, butt and thighs have so much more fat storing area that they seem to “lose” the fat slower. I can only suggest that you really try to focus on a sensible diet that has about 65% carbohydrate, 20% protein and 15% fat. It sounds like you really have that worked out though. I hope you can work this out.
Bernie
– how long until your appetite returns after your runs?
– more appetite loss after high-intensity runs?
You’re right in that losing significant amounts of weight, one will lose a combination of fat and lean mass. Obviously, if you’re focussing on your running, you’ll lose more upper body lean mass than lower body.
BTW: egg yolks aren’t evil anymore - get yourself some organic eggs and chow away! Scrambled whites, that’s disgusting! Goes well with a light Chablis I guess…:=)
thanks–really my question was geared towards loosing appetite and how to rememdy it. i’m not worried that i’m going to vanish. i know i’m not going to loose muscle on a 3 mile run, but know once i get to 15+ miles on a long run day and have no will to eat…that’s different. i’m sure with the tips here hopefully it will be different this time around. 15+ miles is about 4 or 5 weeks away for me anyway (if all continues to go well coming out of physical therapy).
keep on!
job, i ran 3 miles this morning sometime between 10 am and 11 am, normal pace, and wasn’t until 4 pm that i could eat a sandwich. around noon i had a bite of cottage cheese and half a banana…kind of making myself eat it. by 4pm though, was ready for a sandwich.
it’s been 4 years since i’ve done high intensity runs, so i don’t really remember…but know that it was always kinda hard to have an appetite. i do remember the 20’s though, i could eat about 4 pieces of pizza after that (which seemed like a ton of food).
anyway…i feel ridiculous for posting this thread in the first place. LOL!
kittycat,
Appetite is a funny thing. I know for me, I’ll go through periods where I don’t want to prepare any food at all. I’ll cook for my wife and kids, and get meals for them, but the I’ll sit down and have a bowl of cereal or something easy like that. I cannot really correlate it with an increased work-out load though. The worst is that I hot one of these ruts towards the end of the summer when our “bounty” from the garden was at its peak. I’m a vegetarian so this should be the most heavenly time of the year for me and my palate, but alas I wasn’t in the mood. So I canned a lot of tomatoes and froze my peppers, beans, peas, and broccoli. The zucchini got eaten (bread, cookies, neighbors). Now I have about 20 acorn squash and 15 butternut squash that I have to figure out what to do with. I’ll eat most of them thorugh the winter because they keep for a long time, but damn that’s alot of squash!
Good luck, and savor every step of your training. I know that I do!
Bernie
So, are you weight training now, w/ the running?
I can identify w/ parts of your situation…
The only time I really lose my appetite is when it’s really hot out, (I’m thining of moving to the equator). And I’ve also found that after a longer workout, (or marathon or IM), I have zero appetite for several hours. But this isn’t the case w/ shorter workouts.
I’ve also done Marathons when I’ve weight trained right up until taper time, and other races I didn’t really weight train much. I tend to not be able to build/maintain lean muscle unless I’m weight training 2x/week. Either it’s not enuf protein, or too much cardio - I dunno. But, I’ve always felt way better when I kept up the weights thruout the training.
Can you supplement w/ a Protein shake, or something along those lines? That mite help.
BTW - I’m jealous as hell.
hey, if you are not hungry you can always ask me for nutrition advice
(yeah right)
Dont complain, you WILL get hungry as time goes on
I am on a strict 1860 cal diet, adding 200-300 per hr for training
And … this is going to kill you Kittymeister …
To make keeping track of calories simpler,
I have decided to eat exactly the same thing every single day
Day after day after day … 1860 calories … for three months!
I am keeping the diet a secret, but it is high carb, plenty of veggies, plenty of protien, supplemented by calcium and other vitamins, very low fat - and I am not overly hungry, usually satisfied
Ask me how it worked after I get back from camp in December, I will PM you the pics
I should be able to hit 157-158 and get down below 10% total body fat by then - solid
I am a masochist … and a Taurus … I guess they kind of go together
Another idea - try to cook foods that smell good to you; if food has a pleasant aroma that might increase your appetite. Fresh baked bread comes to mind… choose spices you like (cinnamon is a favorite of mine - apple crisp!)